In an ordinary telephone call between two callers, the sound heard in the background of the call reflects the locale of each caller. For example, if a calling party is calling from a telephone in a tavern or bar, the sounds emanating from the bar (e.g., clinking glasses, music, loud talking) will likely be heard as a background sound by the called party. However, if a calling party is calling from a quiet room, the called party will typically not hear any background sound.
For various reasons, a calling party might desire to insert background sound in a telephone call that is not actually generated by the locale of the calling party. For example, a calling party who is calling from a quiet room might wish to make the recipient of the call believe that the calling party is calling from a tavern or bar. One way to do this is to insert background sound into the telephone call that is similar to the sounds emanating from such a location.
One way to insert background sounds is for the calling party to have a source of background sounds playing in the mouthpiece of the telephone, or integrated into the telephone. However, this requires the calling party to purchase or create pre-recorded background sounds, and to have the sounds available when the call is initiated. Further, the calling party must have the expertise to enable the sounds to be played continuously during the entire telephone call. In addition, if the calling party is involved in a multi-party call, the calling party may desire that each called party hear a different background sound. This is not possible if the source of the background sound originates from the calling party's phone.
Further, a called party may desire to have a background sound inserted in all received calls, or in preselected received calls. This is difficult if the called party must be the source of the background sound.
Based on the foregoing, there is a need for a method and apparatus for inserting background sound in a telephone call that does not require the calling party or called party to purchase or create the background sounds and that enables multiple called parties to hear different background sounds.